16. MINIOPTEETJS. 347 



This very remarkable species, the single representative of the 

 genus Th(froj)tera^ is not only peculiar among aU the species of 

 Chii-optera in possessing such highly speciaHzed climbing organs as 

 the adhesive disks described above, but also in the structure of the 

 wings and in the feet agrees with none of the species of the family 

 to which it belongs, resembling instead, in the presence of three 

 phalanges in the middle finger, the species of the very far-removed 

 family Phyllostomidte, while in the equal number of j)halanges in 

 the toes it corresponds alone with the species of the subfamily 

 Phyllorhinince (Rhinolophidaj) . 



a. ad. sk. Chamicuros, Peruvian Amazons. Mr. Bartlett [C.l. 



h, c. S juv. et Chamicuros, Peruvian Amazons. Mr. Bartlett [C.J. 



ad., al. 



d. cJ ad., al. Cayenne. M. TaczanowsM [C.]. 



16. MINIOPTEEUS. 



jVIiniopterus, Bonaparte, Fauna Italica, fasc. xxi. (1837) ; Gray, Mag. 

 Zool. 8f Bot. 1838, p. 497 ; Keys. ^ Bias. Wiegm. Archiv, 1840, p. 4 ; 

 Wagner, Suppl. Schreh. Sdugeth. p. 735 (1856) ; Blasuis, Fauna 

 DeutscM. p. 45 (1857) ; Tomes, P. Z. S. 1858, p. 117 ; Dobson, 

 Monogr. Asiat. Chiropt. p. 160 (1876). 



Crown of the head abruptly and considerably raised above the 

 face-line ; ears separate, rhomboidal, the outer margin carried 

 forwards to the angle of the mouth ; tragus like that in Vesperugo ; 

 nostrils simple, opening sublateraUy by lunate apertures, the ex- 

 tremity of the nose separated from the upper lip on either side in 

 front and beneath by a narrow groove ; muzzle broad, with well 

 developed glandular prominences ; the first phalanx of the second or 

 longest finger very short, less than one third the length of the 

 terminal phalanx, and but slightly longer than the first phalanx of 

 the fourth finger, the second or terminal phalanx of the same finger 

 very long, fiexed forwards in repose on the under surface of the 

 metacarpal bone, and reaching in that position beyond the middle of 

 the bone ; wings to the ankles or to the tibiae, attached to the 

 inferior surface, and continuous with a band of integument passing 

 across the ankle to the interfemoral membrane covering the cal- 

 caneum ; feet long, slender, toes nearly equal in length ; tail as long 

 as the head and body, wholly contained tvithin the interfemoral 

 membrane. 



rv .••• T 2—2 1—1 2—2 „ 3—3 



Dentition. Inc. -^, c. p^j, pm. j^^j, m. g^. 



Skull greatly vaulted, the vertex as high or higher than the 

 occiput, and separated from it by a slight transverse concavity; 

 base of the skull broad, basioccipital laterally grooved; cochleae 

 partially concealed by the tympanic buUse ; the bony palate ex- 

 tending very slightly behind the anterior roots of the zygoma ; pre- 

 maxillaries more developed than in either Vespertilio or Vesperugo ; 

 upper incisors short, weak, in pairs on each side, separated from the 

 canines by a space. 



